Peter Dukes, Writer/Director of Little Reaper and The Beast

“When I get inspired to do something, it’s kind of like a rocket taking off,” says Peter Dukes, laughing. “You’re not going to stop it.”

Armed with a passion for originality and an enterprising spirit, filmmaker Peter Dukes has uniquely positioned himself in the industry. Starting from scratch, he has built himself a legacy of low-budget fantasy and horror films that have wowed internet and film festival audiences alike. Now, after unleashing a rash of award-winning shorts on the world, he is ready to begin moving into feature films.

Like many filmmakers, Dukes got his start in college, making movies with whatever equipment he could get his hands on. Realizing that this was his passion, Dukes made the decision to plant himself in the jungle of Los Angeles, California, where he has been making films for the better part of the last decade.

In 2006, Dukes made the 20-minute black and white film, Unreachable. In order to accommodate and manage this relatively large production, he launched the aptly-named Dream Seekers with his sister, Aubrey Dukes. Dukes stresses that Dream Seekers wasn’t a production company from the onset; instead, it was envisioned as a “creative center point” for his films, whereby he might gather various talents from across the industry.

Dream Seekers is the rallying point for Dukes’ films.

Dukes spoke fondly of his sister Aubrey, who has supported and worked alongside him since the very beginning. “We’ve been making stories together, films together, books together, you name it – any kind of storytelling – since we were very little,” he says with an air of nostalgia.

When she started Dream Seekers with Dukes, Aubrey mostly focused on special effects and animation. Two years ago, however, she started to “explode” in the industry, getting jobs with blockbuster productions like Captain America, Thor, The Avengers, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and the upcoming Pacific Rim. But Dukes says doesn’t mean she’s lost touch with her roots. “She’s always around and helping in Dream Seekers when she can.”

Dukes has also been fortunate, having recently been given the chance to collaborate with other filmmakers and direct two feature length movies. But despite his newfound success, Dream Seekers still remains close to his heart. “The bottom line is Dream Seekers just something I enjoy doing and I’ll always enjoy doing,” he says. “And we hope others enjoy doing it along with us.

Bill Oberst, Jr. co-stars as Michel in The Beast.

Truly independent filmmaking can be a harrowing endeavor. Working with a shoestring budget under tough time constraints often leads to stressful shoots. Dukes has learned to roll with the punches, though, and affirms he owes much of his career to these difficulties – some of which he intentionally seeks out.

Truly independent filmmaking can be a harrowing endeavor. Working with a shoestring budget under tough time constraints often leads to stressful shoots. Dukes has learned to roll with the punches, though, and affirms he owes much of his career to these difficulties – some of which he intentionally seeks out.

“Each film is a specific challenge, whether it’s working with a certain type of actor, or under certain lighting conditions, or if I haven’t worked with kids in awhile,” says Dukes in a moment of introspection. “Whatever it may be, each film has challenged me to kind of gauge where I am, where my strengths and weaknesses are.”

The Beast(reviewed here) was one such challenge. Based on a simple but powerful idea, the film takes the horror genre and uses it to explore the nature of humanity. But there is more to the film’s inception than that; in an unfortunate turn of events, Dukes was forced to shoot the whole movie in just one night – a choice he fondly refers to as “cinematic suicide. He wistfully recalls production. “It’s like going to war out there – it can be very difficult, and you’re under the gun, and time is short, money’s tight.”

But he also emphasizes that these trials and tribulations can all fall by the wayside if the filmmaking team is accommodating. Despite the working conditions, he says that for The Beast, “everyone on the set, including the cast, was great about it.”

His efforts on The Beast may have also tapped into a deeper struggle for Dukes. He has a clear predisposition toward certain genres, stating, “I definitely have a soft spot for fantasy and horror, I always will.” But aside from movies like Tomas Alfredson’s Let The Right One In, he doesn’t feel that directors are doing as much with these types of stories as they could to challenge audience expectations. “Audiences have become very smart – they can predict just about anything,” he says. “But why not shake things up every now and again?”

Peter Le Bas co-stars as Douglas in The Beast.

When it comes to horror in particular, Dukes notes, “It doesn’t have to be some nasty thing.” Instead, he suggests asking ethical or moral questions of the viewer. He implores other filmmakers to “make [the viewer] face questions that are difficult to answer.”

In a quirky twist of his own words, Dukes has done just that in his latest short, Little Reaper. For this film, Dukes chose to look for humor in horror as he focuses on the Grim Reaper’s daughter, an angsty teen whose attitude and utter disinterest in her father’s profession persistently gets her grounded.

As a comedy, Little Reaper presented a previously untapped creative opportunity for Dukes. Speaking to his inspiration-based filmmaking style, Dukes says that although the film offered a chance for him to grow, he didn’t have any reason to shoot a comedy until this particular idea struck. “I have a dozen scripts ready to go, but this one kind of just came at me,” he says.

The cast of Little Reaper pose for a group photo.

When asked about why he has decided to move into features, Dukes said, “I love short films, I love short stories – but in terms of a career, I knew [Little Reaper] would probably be my last before I focused more on features for awhile.” Dukes says that development is going well for both of his upcoming films, one of which is a full-length adaptation of the award-winning The Beast.

Dukes also has a good grasp of what makes certain stars, crew members, writers, and directors so magnetic in the industry. He says that sometimes, talent isn’t enough; you start from square one in Los Angeles, and a genuinely winning and flexible personality can be what it takes to really make it big.

“I think that some people get the larger picture, you know: we’re not saving lives here,” he says. “We’re telling stories, and I love to tell stories, but there’s no reason to let the business or the profession consume you to the point where you’re not only just unhappy, but you’ve isolated yourself off from all others. The cast and crew has gotta be able to come onboard for a reason.”